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HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 













- ANALOGY 


' 


OF THE 




Nature and Life of tie Horse 




A COMPLETE EXPOSITION OP THE 


i 


MYSTERIES OF HORSE-TRAmfflG. 




By MOSES HUMBER. 




PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 




1881. 



THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 



ANALOGY 



Nature and Life of the Horse 



showing the 

Clouded State of His Intellect, His Trains of Thought, 
His Grievances and the Cause of His Unruli- 
ness ; ALSO THE Only True Method by 
which He CAN be Taught ; a Com- 
plete Exposition of the 

MYSTERIES OF HORSE TRAINING, 



How to Cultivate the Beauty ; Hints to Breeders on the 

Best Kind of Harness adapted to His use, and 

how to Arrange it to Prevent Choking, etc. 



By 


MOSES 


'^H U M B E R. 


UBLISHED BY 


THE 


AUTHOR 



1U tY\ 



1881. 



SP 



The Courier Company, 

EUctrotypers, Printers and Binders, 

Buffalo, N. Y. 



CONTENTS. 



• Page. 

Preface 5 

Tlie Inflaence of tlie Voice 9 

The Cause of the Balk H 

The Cure of the Balk 18 

Chain-drawing 30 

Stopping Balkers 33 

Seesaw Teams '- 34 

Choking 30 

The Kicker 39 

The Final Secrets of Horse-training 43 

Colt Breaking '"^O 

The Shy 53 

The Horse for General Purposes 55 

On Training the Trotter 56 

Training the Horse to Follow his Trainer 59 

On the Use of the Whip 67 



4 CON-TENTS. 

Page. 

Tlie Cultivation of Beauty, or the Beauty of Good 

TreatmeDt 60 

Notes on Breeding 72 

General Remarks 73 

The Stable 84 

On Cleaning 85 

On the Harness 87 

Choking — Cause and Cure 90 

Head Fixings. . . *. *. 93 



PREFACE. 



TEIE horse is acknowledged to be one of the 
noblest members of the animal kingdom. 
His frame is a perfect model of elegance; a 
concentrated energy, easily managed if kindly 
treated; proud, but persevering, he has been 
one of the most valuable aids to human civili- 
zation. The power that some individuals pos- 
sess in promoting obedience and cultivating the 
most useful qualities of the horse is admitted 
to be truly surprising; but here the matter 
usually ends, leaving the remainder enshrouded 
in traditional mystery. This may be attributa- 
ble to the fact that the real horseman has but 
little time to devote, and is ill-prepared in lit- 
erary accomplishments to remove the veil from 
such a knotty and entangled question. 

In the preparation of this work, it has been 
the writer's aim to throw some light on this 
seemingly impregnable mystery, and, in so doing, 



6 PREFACE. 

I feel confident that I am removing what has 
long been a perplexing barrier to the progress 
of horse- training. This work treats mainly with 
the heavy, or semi-heavy draught team, in the 
ranks of which all miscalled bad horses usually 
find their way. Although I have endeavored to 
throw sufficient light on the nature of the 
horse, and this so-called obstinacy, to enable 
the horseman to judge pretty nearly what is 
best to be done under all modern difficulties, 
whether heavy draught horse, carriage, saddle, 
civil or military. Though in reading the se- 
crecy of the art, the observances may appear 
many, yet it is only by a detailed explanation 
the horseman can obtain a satisfactory view of 
the subject. It is here shown that the secret 
of horse-training lies in becoming familiar with 
and working upon the notions, intellect and 
sensitive feelings, or rather the inner, in place 
of the outer, horse ; such knowledge places the 
horseman in a position to be guided by an 
agent unseen by the ordinary observer; hence 
the power of some individuals over others ; and 
for the horseman to reap the benefit of this 



^i 



PREFACE. 7 

work, he should read, study and become famil- 
iar with all of the different forms of training, 
as herein set forth. This done, he should be 
competent to train the horse in a short time to 
any given point, or know the reason why. In 
bringing this work before the horse-working 
public, I trust tla,at it will not only prove bene- 
ficial to man, but shield that noble animal in 
question from ill-treatment, to which he has 
been too long a victim; for the person who 
yields to anger, and vents it upon the horse, 
will never know his own ability in the horse- 
training art. 

Therefore it behooves us not to be guided.by 
our own petty grievances, but act the nobler 
part, observe laws, and train in an intelligible 
form, so required by the clouded intellect of 
this noble, useful and inoffensive animal. 



THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR, 



THE INFLUENCE OF THE VOICE. 

In speaking to the horse the horseman is apt 
to commit himself through the gruff tone of 
the Yoice, applied with a view to cause fear and 
more effectually impress his authority; but this 
is erroneous, for fear lasts but a short time- 
is at best only a confused interruption, is then 
superseded by a case-hardened indifference. 

The horse utilizes the voice and finds in it a 
true indicator of the intentions of the horse- 
man a forerunner of deeds that are to follow 

—so that if we do not ill-treat physically, the 
voice indicates it ultimately, so that the horse 
imagines the horseman is only restrained from 
violence until his anger becomes more inflamed ; 
this suspense causes fretting and is deadly poi- 
son to the nobler, steady, unerring action of the 

horse. 

Take, for example, the horse of a timid 



10 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

nature : The horseman may do his utmost in 
guarding against any ill-treatment for weeks, 
with a view to promoting a cool, steady action 
of the horse, but all of no avail — he is still fret- 
ting ; but if the driver will reflect back a mo- 
meilt he will remember he has been in the habit 
of throwing out, now and again, a berating 
word ; this, then, is the agent that has secretly 
set all his endeavors at naught, for the horse has 
been listening to every word that has fallen 
from his lips, and continues to contemplate, as 
he has often hitherto read by bitter experience, 
the dreaded intention of the ulterior. This 
being the case, it is absolutely necessary that 
words cease with the deeds. 

There is no denying but man is capable of 
overcoming all modern unmanageable horses if 
he will observe laws that lead to that end ; and, 
whilst pointing out those laws, I am laboring 
under the unpleasant knowledge that his abili- 
ties will be materially impaired if the voice is 
not free from all scolding tendencies. The voice 
plays strange freaks in its influence over the 
horse, for although when raised in anger it is 
very annoying and disturbing, yet it tends only 
to berate and beat down, and has no power what- 



THE CAUSE OP THE BALK. 11 

ever in bringing abont that higher standard of 
ready compliance. And it should be borne 
in mind by the horseman that (so peculiar is 
the nature of the voice that it carries with 
it no force and falls to the ground unless 
accompanied by the whip, etc., as herein set 
forth), though the voice alone would not pro- 
duce balking or kicking, yet it probably fur- 
nishes half of the causes from which those 
habits are engendered. I may mention that in 
turning either way you will facilitate ready com- 
prehension and compliance by throwing the 
voice rather in the direction you wish them to 
go ; but if you throw it in the opposite direction 
it is apt to bewilder and mislead the horse in 
his blindfolded way of working. 

THE CAUSE OF THE BALK. 

Before commencing to cure the balk it is 
essential that the horseman have some knowl- 
edge as to its cause. Its chief cause may be 
said to arise through excitement, from being 
whipped, clubbed, hallooed at and urged on re- 
peatedly to draw at immovable objects; or, in 
other words, vainly endeavoring to accomplish 
impossibilities. At such times the horseman will 



12 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

adopt a blustering course of action. This blus- 
tering is ^supposed to enhance drawing, but the 
result of which we shall hereafter see, for the 
horse, after witnessing a few times the result of 
the stick, becomes terribly excited to find he is 
again fastened to the spot; and no matter how 
crushing may be the ill-treatment, he is invari- 
ably bound to abide the result and receive the 
same at the hands of a too often rebellious, un- 
reasoning driver. When we reflect on how 
easy our own quietude is affected by the anger 
of others, with all our intellect, equality of rank 
and ability, and without the slightest blow being 
inflicted, we may consider we have but a feeble 
idea of the magnitude of the horse's feelings 
when he is subjected to clubbing over his head 
and ears without reserve; but, on the contrary, 
with a view to inflict the most bitter and burn- 
ing pangs of pain and terror possible. With 
this in view help is sometimes called, and for- 
midable weapons, snch as handspikes in the 
lumber woods, and pick-handles on railroads, are 
frequently brought into use. The horse soon 
comes to view those stickings to mean nothing 
more nor less than an onset of harsher treatment, 
and when stuck, or he has reasons to believe so, 



THE CAUSE of THE BALK. 13 

althougli probably it requires but a small effort 
on his part to overcome the difficulty, he listens 
to the tone of the driver's voice, and, if angry, 
he knows too well his fate is sealed. 

Should he find this the case it causes a tremu- 
lous fear, his thoughts are then riveted on draw- 
ing this ill-treatment on. In passing through 
and landing on the other side of it, of course 
he receives his customary amount of ill-treat- 
ment ; and, feeling relief from the same, we will 
suppose him to draw and succeed in removing 
the load from the difficulty. The driver is 
then led to suppose that it was this ill-treatment 
that caused the horse to draw, and by laying it 
on hot and heavy, grasps the hope that in the 
near future the animal will not hesitate a mo- 
ment in complying with his wishes; but how 
absurd such an idea, for at the next difficulty 
the same loss of time, the same annoyance and 
root of all evil, ill-treatment, will have to be 
repeated again and again ; and as a rule the 
horseman shuts his eyes to those glaring facts. 

When we see those beatings rivet the horse's 
attention, and that his whole aim is to draw 
them on and land on the other side of them, 
instead of going on with his work, we cannot 



14 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

fail to see that the ill-treatment is the sole cause 
of the difficulty. In short, to control by force, 
means to force out of control in all cases. 

The value of the horse is frequently impaired 
in this way ; he will do something wrong and 
the horseman will give him a whipping. This 
disturbs his quietude, causing unsteady action ; 
this brings down more ill-will and he is whipped 
again for this unsteadiness, the sheer result of 
former beatings, and, in the near future, if 
this treatment is not changed, he is pronounced 
balky, unmanageable, or an animal of little 
value. Of course the horse is saddled with the 
cause of the difficulty, when it is shown man is 
the instigator of it, and the more unsteady he is, 
the more he is made so, and the more dilapidated 
he appears, the more he is made to appear, and 
the more he is held in disfavor, the more reason 
there appears to be to disfavor him. The 
horse's case is a hopeless one, for the demands 
of an ill-disposed horseman have no limits, and 
under all reverses he is expected to be full of 
pride and gaiety, so as to show himself o& to 
the best advantage to attract the eye, which, of 
course, is an impossibility under existing cir- 
cumstances, and, altogether his lot in life is 



THE CAUSE OF THE BALK. 15 

hard indeed to depict ; and if he could speak 
and defend himself, we should have ^uch a ter- 
rible tale of suffering, it would not fail to gain 
sympathy from a heart harder than stone. 

The horse is a proud, gay, but, in many re- 
spects, a timid, deer-like animal, and it may be 
said of him, as it is said of the peacock, he is 
conscious of his attractive carriage, and let him 
be ever so lean, in outw^ard appearance, in- 
wardly he aims to maintain this majestic stand- 
ard. The horseman is too often ready with 
the whip, or other means, to disrespectfully im- 
pair the loftier aims of the animal. 

Should he find this the case, should he find 
extreme measures adopted, he must adopt ex- 
treme action; hence the balk, kick, rear, etc. 
His noble nature will not admit of being so 
ground down without showing signs of disap- 
proval. He is willing man should take abso- 
lute control, if he will learn to effect this by 
proper and becoming means; then why should 
man be so oppressive, when to cause so much fear 
and anxiety, to endeavor to grind and cower him 
down and place the iron heel of tyranny upon 
his neck, when this kills all the better appear- 
ance and quality of the horse, and, at the same 



16 THE HOKSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

time, is a great disadvantage to man's own in- 
terest ? If the driver is puzzled to know 
what to do, when in difficulty, he should aim 
to keep on the side of leniency, for by so doing, 
the better, steady actions of the animal will be 
maintained, for to treat the horse with harsh- 
ness is an error of the deepest dye and should 
be at once discontinued, for it accomplishes 
nothing, but destroys every particle of the 
better qualities of the animal. 

The fifty-dollar horse requires the same treat- 
ment as the five-hundred dollar horse ; he may 
require a little more whip, but, if ill-treated, 
to him it is equally disheartening, and leads to 
the same erroneous effect. 

With the few foregoing remarks before him, 
the horseman may see that the horse possesses 
feelings in this respect similar to those of his 
own kith and kin, and should be treated accord- 
ingly. He is proud, gay, high-spirited, posses- 
sing keen, sensitive feelings, and is so tender- 
hearted that the voice alone is sufficient to stab 
him to the core. Although we cannot teach 
him without the whip, yet it is necessary we 
proceed with care, or we are producing a rod 
for our own back, for thoughtless, harsh treat- 



THE CAUSE OF THE BALK. IT 

ment causes confusion, and its venomous sting 
cannot be overcome only by a lengthy course of 
lenity, namely, until the horse perceives by long 
experience he need not fear any harsh treatment. 
Then, and not till then, can he be brought to 
work with all the steady, determined fire and 
energy peculiar to his race. And no matter 
how long the time it may take the horseman, 
to obtain this quietude, he should proceed with 
a steady purpose ; improvements are straight 
ahead of him, and he cannot miss them. 
Though in commencing to remove the fears of 
an animal that has long been a victim to ill- 
treatment, more especially at his own hands, 
improvements will be slow for the first ten 
days, or so, but after this the horse's ears will 
show signs of relief, will occasionally take an 
observing form ; it is not until after this that 
the main strides for the better take place. It is 
just as natural for the horse to jump, kick, rear 
and balk, whilst undergoing, or under the influ- 
ence of, ill-treatment, as it is for the pig to 
squeal whilst under the operation of having a 
ring put in his nose ; it is simply each one's 
method of expressing his pain. 

As a rule it is, on the horse's part, erroneously 
3 



18 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

supposed to take the form of a fight ; but sup- 
pose we class it under that head, we see it is by 
man forced upon the animal, and if we did not 
fight him his attitude would be changed ; having 
nothing to fight with, he would not fight 
the air and would soon reach the level warranted 
by surrounding circumstances, but if we con- 
tinue to fight with him, it is the backbone of 
the difficulty, and accomplishes nothing as has 
been clearly shown. Thus we, to a certain de- 
gree, discern the horse's trains of thought, his 
grievance and the cause of his unruliness. 

The horseman is now supposed to have read 
the foregoing part of this work, and the follow- 
ing instructions are not only for the cure of the 
balk, but a course of training that should at all 
times be adopted. 

THE CURE OF THE BALK. 

In removing the balking habits in the horse 
the first and main thing to be done is to train the 
horse to obey the starting word. The horseman 
will accomplish this by giving the starting word 
and simultaneously allowing the whip to fall on 
each horse, alternately, if a double team, until 
both horses show equal signs of readiness to 
start, no matter if one be balky and the other 



THE CURE OF THE BALK. 19 

not, for they should be welded together, so to 
speak, and both bound by the same 'discipline. 
The driver's attention to this matter of starting 
should be as fixed and unvarying as that of the 
engineer, who has first to turn on the steam to 
set the machinery in motion. By applying the 
whip simultaneously with the starting word, in 
a few days it will be found that as soon as the 
reins are handled the horses will show wariness 
and will be ready to go. When this readiness 
appears the whip should be applied very lightly 
or withheld altogether for a short time, for it 
has accomplished its mission, and if persistently 
continued will drive out of control rather than 
draw in. By this the horseman will see that 
the attention only is needed to be permanently 
fixed, that the whipping is administered on a 
sliding scale. It is a well-known fact that men 
are puzzled and wanting in ability to control 
the actions of the balky horse. At this point 
this difficulty is overcome by applying the whip 
simultaneously with the starling word, as it 
rivets the horse to obedience and teaches him 
exactly what is wanted and strikes at the root 
of the evil. The greatest drawback with horse- 
men in this matter is that they are apt to refrain 
from lightly whipping an easily excited horse, 



20 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

at least until they allow him to start without it, 
bat this is not properly instructing the animal, 
although a becoming act, it cannot be denied^ 
but the nature of the horse does not admit of 
its adoption ; therefore, the horseman should re- 
member a faint heart never gained a fair lady, 
and that it is not the whip when becomingly 
applied that produces uncontrollable excite- 
ment, but the anger and cruelty of man as 
exhibited in hallooing and indulging^ in the use 
of unlawful weapons. This hesitation to lightly 
apply the Avhip is fatal to our aims, for inaction 
of man produces inaction of the horse, and so 
each one seems to be waiting for the other to 
lead off, and as the driver is holding back to 
inflict a severe lash presently if his orders are 
not obeyed, so is the horse preparing and wait- 
ing to receive it, rather than going on with his 
work; wiiereas, by using leniently the whip on 
each horse alternately, it welds them together, 
teaching them to be ready and move on as soon as 
the word is given. This habit once established 
in the horse, he will unhesitatingly obey, pro- 
ceed on and set all excitement to naught, it 
having no chance to edge in as the load is taken 
from the difficulty before excitement appears on 



THE CURE Ot THE BALK. 21 

the scene of action, and will soon become a 
matter happily forgotten and unknown to the 
animal. The driver shonld attend to this train- 
ing, to start off at first, more particularly with 
a light or no load; but as this training will 
have no effect for a few days, and excitement is 
still rife in the horse, do not whip but once or 
twice, accompanying the starting word, and give 
the orders to stop in seven seconds after; stand 
forty seconds and repeat, he will draw after a 
little while, and the oftener you start him under 
this system the sooner you will gain complete 
control over him. 

The horseman will remember it is not the 
severe lash that will facilitate his aims, but a 
smooth, lenient and daily returning to the same 
course of training. The following of these 
instructions will remove the balk from any 
horse. But this training should not be ne- 
glected to-day and to-morrow an effort made to 
bring up the loss by a severe whipping, for the 
horse is of a forgetful nature and cannot be 
effectually trained by starts; knowing nothing 
of ways and means, his course of life is aimless 
and unsteady, therefore, he requires the cautious 
guardianship of man to correct his blunders. 



22 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

The word alone so much depended on to be 
sufficient to instruct the horse to draw, is too 
yain and weak and falls to the ground; for, as 
shown, when spoken as is usual to the balker, 
in a gruff manner, has a tendency to confound 
and act quite the reverse of what it is meant 
for. Hence the necessity of practicing the whip 
to fall with the word, for it supplies the spark 
necessary to give force and action at that point. 

Thus we see there is no necessity for any of 
the ill-will or ill-treatment so commonly and 
erroneously adopted, for there is no denying 
the willingness of the animal to labor ; all he 
asks is some steadying, some close mstructions, 
some definite and standing line of training that 
lie can comprehend, in place of being whipped 
to-day for something, to-morrow for something 
else, and the following day for another grievance, 
and at the end of a week returning to the origi- 
nal, and again departing on the same rounds. 

In applying the whip with the starting word, 
it may be found, in five or six days, that the 
horses will become restless and want to go before 
ordered. Should this take place they should 
receive a moderate pull with the lines, and 
should this cause a backward move the whip 



THE CURE OF THE BALK. 23 

should instantly fall on them whilst in the act 
of backing; and should the horseS' repeat, the 
driver must repeat, and meet act for act with 
lessening force until they stand still. In this 
way he will gain control over the movements of 
his team. At that point train to exactness and 
good order. 

In accomplishing tasks of heavy drawing the 
starting should vary a little. As it requires a few 
seconds for the horses to place themselves into 
position, they should be allowed a little time, 
and if handled with care they will habitually 
begin to draw in about five seconds after re- 
ceiving their orders. In applying the whip 
with the starting word, until the horses are 
thoroughly trained, they will make an attempt 
to start at the first instance where the whip is 
in the habit of falling, and the next moment 
they may be seen to hesitate. When this is 
apparent the whip should be withheld at the 
first instance and brought to fall immediately 
on their wavering ; and to meet this difficulty 
effectually the driver should be prepared at the 
next start and cause the whip to fall at the 
exact moment this wavering is in the habit of 
appearing, without waiting to see if it is being 



24 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

carried into effect this time or not, for it is 
plain that such habits exist and should be re- 
moved. Or, in a general way, a light and varied 
whipping should be spread over the five sec- 
onds allowed between the word and the start in 
heavy drawing, and even after, to promote the 
most powerful drawing. 

In those struggles the team should receive no 
words except to go on or stop, the whip should 
do the remainder, moderately falling on all 
flinchings or laggings behind ; and the starting 
word should be spoken with a double meaning, 
such as "get up, my boys." In this way we 
avoid causing any pointed, special probe that 
may breed fretting and thwarting tendencies; 
it also should be spoken in one continuous tone 
of voice (and no secondary utterances), or the 
horses are apt to suppose their orders are coun- 
termanded. Finding the driver not firm in his 
decision will cause them to waver for an expla- 
nation. And in delivering those orders the 
driver should not look at the horses' heads, but 
rather muffle or throw the voice on the ground 
between the two; in this way he does not draw 
away the horses' thoughts, but allows them to 
direct it more on their occupation, w^hich means 



THE CURE OF *THE BALK. 25 

energy and a more healthy working inclination. 
And again, the starting word should 'not be in 
anywise a squealing cut of nature, and changed 
to befit the occasion; for instance, if there is 
no load to start, it may be delivered in a light, 
mild way, or a chirp will answer tlie purpose 
here; but, on the other hand, in starting loads, 
and according to tlie force of the draw required 
to start them, the power of the voice should be 
increased in a proper ratio, until the powers of 
the animal are taxed to their utmost, then 
slrould the voice assume a full, bass strain ; in 
this way it is a lead off and quickens the horse. 

The advantage of the rather lengthy, single- 
tone utterance is, that it seems to somehow de- 
termine and fortify the horse for a more length}^, 
conquering draw, and its strong or bass tone 
points to and tells the horse the power of the 
draw required for the occasion. And this is of no 
small advantage, especially in taking the first 
draw at a strange object, for without some fore- 
runner the horse is at a disadvantage, knowing 
nothing of what he is hitched to, and he soon 
becomes familiar with its changing meaning. 

I have pointed out these simple methods for 
the driver's observance, but he may, of course. 



26 THE HOKSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

practice tliem as time, place and circumstances 
may offer ; he should bear in mind, however, 
that to facilitate ready, most powerful and time- 
saving drawing, we should observe laws which 
are enticing and invigorating to the animal. 
Though the voice points to the weight of the 
draw, yet, unless by a tried, careful and never- 
deceiving driver, the horse is wary and shy of 
bringing abruptly into play his full powers, for 
fear of something giving away and pitching 
him headlong, and it is probable that not until 
the third encounter will he apply his full 
strength. The horseman should allow and 
wait patiently for those testing preparations. 

The horse is a powerful and a noble animal, 
full of fire and energy, capable of accomplish- 
ing great and astonishing feats, and is well 
adapted to his purpose ; and the horseman that 
will support and encourage the growth of this 
fire and agility, is the person he will most readily 
obey. This means in drawing at an immovable 
or nearly immovable object, he wishes and should 
be allowed to start it with a sudden, determined 
effort. This is reasonable, for how absurd would 
it be to persuade a man in lifting a heavy article 
to lift for seven or eight seconds before applying 



THE CURE OF THE B 4LK. 47 

his full strength. Therefore, the horse should 
not he forced into a slow, undecided' move hy 
tight lines, for it not only dampens his energy 
but his strength is materially impaired, as the 
life of the object is wanting. And, moreover, 
the" horse is wary and shy of displeasing the 
horseman by advancing ahead and pulling the 
lines in what appears to be a forbidden direc- 
tion. Therefore, it is the drivers duty not to 
deter the horse's movement, bnt to come behind, 
support, steady and see that the fiery move is 
backed and maintained. This he will accom- 
plish by practicing letting the whip fall with 
reserve along the horse's back, say in two seconds 
after the encounter — the draught ; or, as already 
pointed out, at any time any flinchings may be 
apparent the whip should promptly meet the 
waver. There is one thing very essential about 
meeting these waverings, we should endeavor 
to meet them at the exact moment they are in 
progress, for this is the sure and only method 
whereby they can, by its repeated application, 
be promptly removed. But the horseman should 
guard against allowing the whip to play against 
the hind legs, as it is detrimental to good draw- 
ing; and the team should not be allowed to 



28 THE HOKSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

draw at those immovable objects more than 
about six seconds and receive the word to 
cease. This will keep good order and they will 
be more willing to draw again, say in forty sec- 
onds. We should not excite and confuse the 
horse by urging him on to struggle and draw 
more than the above-named time, for the horse, 
like man, is willing to make a vigorous effort, 
but becomes disheartened with a useless pro- 
longation of these distressing attacks, and the 
horseman may console himself with the fact 
that the most powerful drawing is accomplished 
at the moment the attempt is made. And in 
such cases the word to stop as well as to go on 
should be of a rather full, say swelled, tone. In 
this way it imparts a sort of stimulating effect 
— keeps abreast of the.times, and is a somewhat 
novel way of congratulating the horse* on his 
powerful abilities. 

This, in fact, is far more acceptable to his 
noble nature than any childish patting. The 
same will apply to the average moveable h^ad, 
say on the wagon, surmounting a hill, going 
through soft places in the road, etc. And 
starts of heavy drawing in general, the driver 
should offer the horses the lines in a liberal 



THE CURE OF THE BALK. 29 

advancing manner, thus encouraging their 
fiery ambition ; bnt he will again come behind 
and see that it is backed np, apj)ljing the whip 
at the moment of any flinchings or stopping 
before orders. In this way he will weld his 
team together, bringing about a smooth, on- 
ward course of proceeding, for each horse re- 
quires to place confidence in the other; and, 
in order to keep abreast support, shoulder 
to shoulder, and never flinch from duty, each 
horse depends on the driver to so weld them 
together. And, indeed, it is not far that we 
have to look to see how powerless they are in 
this matter themselves; yet it is of vital impor- 
tance to their burdensome way. 

Horses, when exerting themselves severely, 
say surmounting a hill, etc., should not go 
longer than thirty-five seconds, and be stopped 
two minutes for wind, and, if badly pumped 
out, a little more ; and in very hot weather, when 
panting, double that time, at least, for how 
galling and distressing must it be, when, as is 
too often the case, he receives a severe lash or 
domineering growl, while having to struggle 
on in a weakened state through insufiiciently 
his wind. Then, again, he should 



30 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

not linger longer than to replenish his full 
requirements of wind, until the summit of the 
hill is gained, or the termination of similar en- 
counters, as the horse is then warm, and in a 
state of elasticity, and his mind is bent on his 
work, and he is more eager to encounter and 
combat the difficulty. 

CHAIX-DRAWING. 

Balky horses, when drawing with chains, 
will, sometimes, suddenly swing around towards 
the driver, and in so doing will slacken the 
lines, so that for the moment he has no control. 
When this takes* place, he should step forward 
and give the nearest to him a moderate blow 
across the nose with the whip-stock, causing 
them to return to their respective positions. 

And should they shy from him, they should 
receive a sharp pull with the lines, brought 
back and bound to the head in the required di- 
rections. Then, again, the balker has a habit 
of putting his nose over the other's withers. 
In this again the driver should endeavor to 
bring the whip-lash or stock to fall across the 
nose. This difficulty will be removed by 
smoothly and repeatedly applying these in- 



CHAIN-DRAWING. 31 

structioiis. The driver should not stand by 
a]id negligently witness these unpleasant prac- 
tices without adopting some known remedy. At 
the same time we should not hurl spite at the 
horses for this apparent craft, for they never 
sought it; this was forced under their notice 
by a long-standing misrule. I may mention 
that, excepting the point of the nose, the horse 
should receive no blows about the head, nor 
along the neck in front of the collar, for the 
head should be set aside, as a flower, to be 
handled only with care, or as the butterfly that 
loses its beauty at the touch. In drawing with 
chains, the horseman should bear in mind and 
lengthen the traces, so that if the chain slips 
the whiffletrees will clear the heels ; for should 
they, in flying forward, strike the heels, it may 
not only cause pain and lame the horse, but it 
causes a shyness of drawing, but you will 
lighten the draught again, by shortening, after 
everything has a firm grip. 

When the horseman has a heavy draught to 
make, he should start the team forward, tight- 
ening the chain, so that the horses may have 
some knowledge where to meet the draught be- 
fore receiving the final word, and it should not 



32 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

escape the driver's notice to see that they both 
stand prominent and even. In this way he will 
keep exactness and good order; and the team 
should have good footing, at least for the first 
few steps, or otherwise should be exempted, if 
not willing to draw. As a rule they do not like 
to draw, heading down hill, as they are con- 
scious of their great strength, severely trying 
the tackling, and aware of the danger of being 
pitched headlong should anything give way. 
The horse will also flinch from drawing with a 
high draught, as it tends to rear him up, de- 
stroying his strength ; and by experience he is 
unpleasantly conscious of the danger of chok- 
ing. The driver should keep a lookout for 
these thwarting tendencies, as to enforce draw- 
ing causes confusion and breeds erroneous 
working habits in the horse. Sometimes when 
receiving orders to stop, one horse will make a 
step back. This habit should be removed by 
applying the whip at the time the back-step 
is made, at the same time give a light pull with 
the lines to ease the other back a little, stand- 
ing them even and training to an orderly posi- 
tion. Eearing balkers need but little comment 
here, but simply this : they are whipped too 



1 



STOPPING BALKERS. 33 

severely; and if applied sufficiently flight and 
not departed from, it will be the means of 
preventing it. 

This is rather a shy, reserved, harmless act, far 
different from the dangerous, wicked kick, and 
they are probably the very best of horses when 
cured of this habit. 

STOPPING BALKERS. 

Some horses are in the habit of stopping 
when their weight of draught is suddenly 
changed for the heavier. This difficulty will 
soon be overcome by applying the whip at the 
moment the halt is being effected ; but if it 
should require a powerful draw to again start, 
they should receive the word to stop with the 
first stroke of the whip ; for as soon as the 
halt takes place they are out of position to 
take a heavy draw, but should receive two 
strokes each after they are stopped, but no 
more. Those few timely strokes will cause 
them to continue on to avoid them. The cause 
of those stoppings probably is that the horse is 
seized with a sudden fear, thinking the horse- 
man is about to pounce upon him with vio- 
lence, so that he becomes in a measure spell- 
3 



34 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

bound ; and, as already shown, his aims, strange 
to say, are bent on passing through and landing 
on the other side of this ill-treatment ; so that 
as long as force is resorted to, the difficulty will 
never be removed. As this work will show, no 
transaction can be relied upon in getting them 
to start again for a few days, until the instruc- 
tions herein set forth take effect, namely, by 
applying the whip with the starting word. 
Train the horse to start when told, and the 
stopping will disappear. This will also apply 
to roadsters that are in the habit of refusing 
to go. 

SEESAW TEAMS. 

We frequently find teams with a habit of see- 
sawing each other while in the act of drawing. 
This difficulty VN^ill soon be overcome by bring- 
ing the whip to fall first on the one then on the 
other at the moment the backward move is made. 

There is something worth observing about 
meeting those flinchings: that is, if we meet 
them with the whip at the exact moment, we 
impress our alertness, promote caution, and the 
horse is soon seen to make a desperate effort to 
avoid carrying them into effect; but if we allow 



SEESAW TEAMS. 35 

them to perform these tricks unreljuked, it is 
no matter how sevei*ely we whip afterwards, it 
will have no force, whatever, in effecting a cure, 
for the horse seems to receive it as a small part 
of such treatment. He is unaccountable, heir to, 
and there is not a shadow of an indication where- 
by we may detect that he ever gleans from it 
any other meaning. We must endeavor to de- 
bar the act, for all other transactions become 
null and void. The horseman should avoid or 
at least guard against endeavoring to hold the 
horses even by tight lines, for this only cramps 
and destroys the energetic movement, and has 
no effect in working a cure. There is no doubt 
stay-chains should be attached to the wagon, 
and it would be beneficial in all cases of heavy 
drawing if something of the kind could be at- 
tached. The prevailing idea is (but I believe 
an erroneous one) that it tends to cause balk, 
but when this difficulty is overcome the case is 
altered; and, as already pointed out, each horse 
depends on the other to keep abreast and afford 
unflinching support to his co- working compan- 
ion, for it happens that if one ceases drawing it 
dampens the energy of the other, as it makes 
him cautious of bringing into play his full 



36 THE HORSE OF AN'OTHER COLOR. 

strength, being then off his guard. In meeting 
these uncertain contingences, the horse is also 
conscious of his great strength and wishes to 
take a firm and never-yielding hold of his load. 
Then again the horse finds difficulty in this 
way beyond the detection of man, and stay- 
chains would* prevent this annoyance even at 
the hands of the most thoughtless young men 
and boys. 

CHOKING. 

Choking is a frequent and terrible occur- 
rence with heavy draught teams, and with the 
majority of drivers the matter is disregarded as 
though it was only a stumble, and the horse is 
on some occasions even whipped and held re- 
sponsible for the mishap, as being brought 
about through holding his head down and 
working in a sluggish manner; but if the horse- 
man would only reflect for a moment, how ter- 
rible must be the heart-rending pangs of the 
time present, he would refrain from proving 
himself such a baneful tyrant. Fancy this 
struggling animal's thoughts on finding his wind 
abruptly shut off, and he is striving to gain it, 
and every second's delay heaps terror upon ter- 



CHOKIKG. 37 

ror, pain upon pain ; but alas ! it is too true, the 
grasp of one of the most dreadful ot deaths can- 
not be shaken off; his powerful muscles quiver 
at the felon's grasp until life, in despair, is ex- 
tinct, and he falls dead at the feet of his driver, 
a victim of the wanton neglect of man. 

Choking occurs to some horses eight or ten 
times in the course of the day, and all through 
harness ill-adapted for them, are even liable to 
choke at every heavy draw. How this may 
effect the lungs is not my profession to say, but 
we may fairly suppose them to be strained and 
injured far beyond their strength and all rea- 
sonable imagination. After encountering such 
anguish a few times, if there was one spark of 
cowardice in his nature, this alone should be 
sufficient to cause him to refuse to draw, know- 
ing, by sad experience, he is open to such calam- 
ities ; but to the credit of his noble family, he 
is in position again as soon as he gains his 
feet, ready to struggle on, and endeavor to avoid 
the anger and supply the craving demands of 
his ruler, and ever now and anon to encounter 
the same distressing pangs over again, and, for 
all he knows, even unto death. (See remarks 
on the harness for its prevention.) Yet the 



38 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

horseman is too often ready and rife to force his 
despodc sway to the bitter point, erroneously 
supposing that the horse has nothing to com- 
plain of, and that any disobedience of orders is 
sheer stubbornness. When we look and closely 
discern the many grievances the horse has to 
contend with, and scores of others beyond the 
detection of man, we have some knowledge of 
the cause of his disobeying orders. When we see 
the exciting effects of harsh words; when we 
see the tremulous, unsteady, frightening effects 
of ill-treatment; when we see that man fails 
to lightly apply the wh'ip and instruct the horse 
to obey the starting word ; when we see that 
man fails to steady and correct by applying the 
whip at the right moment in all flinchings, 
wavers, sudden stops, seesawing, etc., allowing his 
team to indulge in and mature a confusing, dis- 
orderly habit of working ; when we see they are 
against drawing, heading down hill, with a high 
draught, bad footing; when we see the baneful 
effects of the choking, saying nothing of inter- 
nal ailments, that may be working their own 
secret course, we can but conclude that writers 
must be lamentably at sea in this matter when 
they try to prove that taking the horse into a 



1 



THE KI^CKER. 30 

slied and throwing or teaching him to lie down 
at will, or fastening np one front Aeg and so 
driving, will en re the balk. What on earth has 
this to do with staying the influx of those 
thwarting tendencies or removing the wounded 
remembrance they leave in their wake ? This 
is the reverse of a cure, for it only drives the 
horse to a more and more aghast position and 
commit acts he would never think of only in 
moments of desperation. 

THE KICKER. 

It is the nature of the horse to kick. This is 
more especially apparent while in an entire state ; 
the mare coming under this head, it is her we 
are mostly troubled with. It is simply absurd 
and misleading to say that one certain act will 
cure kicking, for it is, like the habit of balking, 
engendered by various grievances, headed by 
the despotic rule of man, so that in curing it 
the driver should guard against showing any 
haughty tendencies, adopting a systematical 
course of training, such as is pointed out in 
this work. If he has been in the habit of ill- 
treating and frightening the animal he should 
reverse this, say for ten days, and bring her 



40 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

mind to a more tranquil state, for it is our duty 
to preserve the plucky nature of the animal ; 
whereas, if she has reasons to suppose the 
horseman is prejudiced against her, she is not 
in a fit state to undergo the operation and ad- 
mit of a cure with a ready dispatch, as it would 
have too much the appearance of endeavoring 
to crush by main force ; would tend to destroy 
every spark of pride and higher aims she may 
still possess, leaving tokens of deep, spiritless 
degradation, and, moreover, the horseman is 
already aware of the fact that to control by 
force means to force out of control. This, like 
all other bad habits, we must catch and debar 
the act, or no cure. To explain the plan : 

Suppose we fetter and fasten one hind foot to 
one front foot, so that when she kicked the 
action of the hind foot would trip the front foot 
from under her, throwing her headlong with 
affright. If this could in any way be effected 
every time she kicked, the habit would decamp 
in a most hasty fashion, because the thoughts 
would be drawn from the use of the heels and 
occupied in what was going to happen the front 
part, and the outcome of the act would soon 
work its own downfall. But this class of fet- 



THE KtCKER. 41 

tering could not be adopted only when stand- 
ing; but the horseman when on tlfe wagon at 
home may adopt a plan to answer this purpose. 
For example : Take a hame strap ; bnokle it 
on the inside front leg, just above the knee, 
with a loop to it ; next fasten a ring to the irons 
at the end of the wagon pole ; take, say a rope 
plow line, pass one end through the ring at end 
of the pole, again through the loop strapped 
on the knee, and fasten to the end of the pole, 
leading the opposite end back to be held in the 
hand with the lines ; this is to trip her if pos- 
sible whilst the heels are yet off the ground. It 
is an easy matter to trip in this way and com- 
pletely debar the act, but this, again, could not 
be adopted only when on the wagon ; but we 
may take other steps ; we may have help, and 
one can drive and do something to cause the 
kick, while the other is prepared with something 
to push the knee forward and so effect the fall ; 
or, if the horseman is in a position, he may push 
the knee forward with his foot. Should he be 
so situated, he should act and not hesitate a 
moment, for hesitation is fatal to good horse- 
training, and the horseman may console him- 
self by the fact that he is acting on a proper. 



42 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

most sure and ready cure. I may mention it is 
beneficial to vary the knee operated on. 

The horseman should not become impatient 
at tha slow progress of improvement, for this 
habit, once established, cannot be thoroughly 
uprooted by an expert using ordinary means, 
in less tlian six or eight weeks. Give her several 
falls daily and she will become more and more 
afraid to kick, and finally the habit will dwindle 
out and disappear; but you should have some- 
thing on the knees to save them in falling. 

Though the nature of the habit ' causes it 
difficult to cope with, yet when the nature of 
the animal becomes thoroughly understood, it 
will be found that there is no effectual cure for 
those habits equal to meeting and debarring the 
act, so prominently alluded to in this work. 

It should be the horseman's aim at all times 
to draw her thoughts away from the use of the 
heels. With this in view, tapping the front leg 
or the nose would be beneficial ; or, for the sake 
of illustration, while going through one of her 
kicking spells, throw suddenly down in front of 
her a buffalo robe, or something to cause af- 
fright. The kicking would cease for the pres- 
ent with surprising abruptness. 



FIIN-AL SECRETS. 43 

Wlien I say that one certain act will not re- 
move the kick, it means that we mnst not shut 
our eyes to the fact that this is her way of 
showing there is something unbearable, headed 
by the haughtiness of man, so that if we con- 
tinue to govern by the harsh word and severe 
lash, we are only clashing the cause and the 
cure together, making matters worse instead of 
better. 

THE FINAL SECRETS OF HORSE-TRAINING. 

In perusing this work the horseman will see 
laid out before him a systematical course of 
training, where he, in removing bad habits of 
the horse, is to cope with and apply the whip, 
etc., in the act. Carry this out according to 
instructions, and it is no matter how bad the 
balk, or how bad the sudden stopping without 
orders, or how bad the seesawing, waver, flinch- 
ing, or faltering in any way (where the horse is 
not out of position) ; it is no matter how wicked 
the kick, those instructions will be found to be 
a never-failing remedy. It is impossible for the 
horse to nullify or heedlessly disregard this 
alert course of action ; so to speak, he is com- 
pelled to bow to the superior abilities of man. 



44 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

This, then, is the final secret and science of 
horse-training, and the only true method by 
which the horse can be minutely corrected and 
taught. It is from men holding such knowledge 
springs all the traditional accounts of the art, 
for it is no matter what we wish to teach the 
horse, it can be accomplished by keeping down 
confusion and keeping those facts in view. This 
being the case, I believe I have fulfilled my 
promise, namely, to throw some light on the 
semi-impregnable mysteries of horse-training. 

I would wish to impress upon the horseman's 
mind that he adopt this course of training, for 
in this way he can, in a few weeks, train the 
horse to serve all modern tastes and require- 
ments, and that he give up the idle hope of 
obtaining information whereby he may immedi- 
ately control the movements of an excited, un- 
manageable horse. With all my close study 
and experience in his nature, notions and hab- 
its, I candidly have to confess I fail to discover 
such a method, and I do not believe it could 
escape my knowledge and lie concealed in the 
background. To support these views, we find 
the intellectual faculties of the horse so clouded 
that he sees no motive for what he is doing; 
he works according to his accustomed habit ; 



FINAL SECRETS. 45 

whether this habit is with or against men's 
wishes he sees no interest and gives no thought 
of ascertaining ; neither has he the power to re- 
move those habits, so that if changed, it must 
be done by some outside agency. To bring 
about a reformation of those habits, requires a 
lengthy course of instruction. We must get 
him to perform again and again, until the 
habit becomes an established fact ; then smoothly 
keep it alive. Thus we see the monstrous folly 
of endeavoring to turn the course of nature by 
violence. The success of horse-training de- 
pends on whipping and acting at the right mo- 
ment, and not the severe lash. If we allow the 
child, in endeavoring to count a hundred, to 
continue on and get mixed up with his twenty- 
ten, twenty-eleven, twenty-twelve, and then 
whip him for his inability, it has nothing to do 
with teaching; we must point out the exact 
place where the numbers have to be changed. 

I will here mention a few of the transactions 
adopted to cause the horse to draw. Probably 
one of the best plans is to throw a coat over his 
head, or, in other words, blindfold him. This 
seems to allay his fears, as, likely, he finds 
some relief, being shut out from the target-gaze 



46 THE HORSE OF AN"OTHER COLOR. 

of man; then, againj if we cover his body it 
seems to allay his fears as though he supposes 
it will screen him from violent attacks; then, 
again, take a small stick and tap him on the 
inside of the front leg below the knee ; this odd 
act probably unhinges his aghast thoughts for a 
moment, and having to move his legs to avoid 
the taps that are falling on them, will some- 
sometimes suddenly start off; or giving the 
true one a light touch, instructing him to lead 
off, enticing the other on, is beneficial ; or giv- 
ing the reins to a stranger to drive; or throw- 
ing the voice from, in place of towards, the 
horses in giving orders ; these transactions may 
promote the horse to draw; then, again, no re- 
liance can be placed in any of them ; it is only 
done to trick, with no certainty of success. 
When we see the horse is relieved by being 
shut out from the gaze of man, we can but see 
that patting is rather injurious to an excited 
horse, for by this he detects man's attention is 
fixed on him. (Never pat the horse but little, 
for by nature he is inclined to be let alone.) It 
would be more beneficial to turn from him and 
speak to a person at a distance, or hammering 



FINAL SECEETS. 47 

at the wagon, etc.; his burning brain would 
then find a moment's relief. 

I scarcely need mention that the horseman 
will see by this work that severely beating the 
horse is quite the reverse to our aim ; but to 
abruptly withhold all weapons is not the best 
course to adopt, for the horse imagines formid- 
able weapons are still lying about handy for use 
at any moment ; this is still firing excitement. 
The best thing to be done at this stage is to 
take a piece of brushwood, and, better still, if 
full of green leaves; use this freely with every 
starting word, etc.; this is to allow the horse to 
detect to his entire satisfaction that the weapon 
in use is harmless. This piece of brushwood, 
if convenient, should never be dispensed with 
in driving a bad balker, for its influence over an 
excited horse is something wonderful, and it is 
to be regretted its powers are so little known 
among horsemen, because it is opposite to the 
course they are in the habit of steering. By 
the use of this, and whistling and singing to 
show good humor, I have known the very 
worst cases of balk removed in one day. I con- 
tend that a horse laboring under a tremulous 
excitement cannot be brought immediately to 



48 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

work in a tranquil, collected, determined man- 
ner; or, in other words, no immediate control. 
For fear there may still be any doubt on this 
point, we have it on record and by tradition, 
that some men will enter a stable, closing the 
doors after them, and in the short space of a 
half hour, may be seen with the most vicious 
animals, quite subdued and lying at their feet, 
fondling them like a puppy-dog. 

This sounds very well on paper, but the suf- 
ferings and anguish of that inoffensive animal 
is something appalling, for he, as it were, is put 
through an operation nearly depriving him of 
life, and falls exhausted to the floor. This is 
repeated, again and again, until the horse be- 
comes so weak he cannot rise, or have the good 
sense to lie still rather than again face his doom. 
To subdue the horse in this way is held up as 
something surprising, but with close observa- 
tion, we see that the animal does not fulfill any 
useful orders ; neither has this anything to do 
with quenching the venomous effects of a trem- 
ulous excitement. It is nothing more nor less 
than a forced inaction, something the horse has 
no power to avoid. There is no science in this ; 
there is no cultivation of energy, beauty and 



Fli^AL SECRETS. 49 

the higher stages of usefulness, and moreover a 
half hour is not immediate control ; it is abso- 
lute brute-overpowering, destruction and death, 
and I decline to expose the methods adopted 
to effect it, it being of no use whatever to the 
horseman. 

It frequently happens we find one horse more 
balky than the other. I will make a few remarks 
on this query. The driver is familiar with the 
main cause of the balk, namely, ill-treatment ; 
he is also instructed to impart equality, to avoid 
inflicting any pointed special probe, for should 
he drift into the habit of concentrating his at- 
tention and whipping the one, he is still driving 
the balking one more and more into the mire. 
The true horse, finding the driver has something 
to call his attention and vent his anger on, feels 
himself exempted from the exciting situation. 
He remains collected and prepared to draw 
when required, and the driver, in his erroneous 
endeavor to bring about a unanimous move- 
ment, is widening the breach between them, if 
such is possible. Now if the horseman were to 
reverse this treatment, center his attention and 
use violence on the true one, and holding out 
leniency to the balker, the upshot would be the 
4 



50 THE HORSE OF AXOTHEE COLOR. 

true one would soon become balky and the 
balker by degrees would become true, though 
there is probably not a horseman in civilization 
but would abhor such a change, yet he would 
be equally as well justified in the one as the 
other. This will bear out the instructions that 
the horseman, in training his team to obey the 
starting word, is to apply the whip to each 
horse alternately until each appears equally 
ready to go as soon as the lines are handled, or 
other signs are made, no matter if one be balky 
and the other not, for they must be welded to- 
gether and both brought under the same disci- 
plinary rules. 

COLT BREAKING. 

In regard to colt breaking, I do not propose to 
dwell on it at length. It has been my aim to 
throw sufficient light on his nature and mental 
faculties to enable the horseman to overcome 
all modern difficulties. The colt, as a rule, is 
an inoffensive know-nothing beast ; he may 
jump, rear, sit down on his haunches, etc., but 
the horseman should endeavor to pursue steadily 
on and tire him out. This does not arise, as is 
often supposed, from stubbornness, for as yet 



COLT BREAKING. 51 

he knows nothing of stubbornness,^ but it solely 
arises from being hampered, tied and jumbled 
up in such a fashion ; in fact stubbornness is a 
feature that has no existence in the horse family, 
until it is forced by the poisonous effects of bad 
management. The colt should never be un- 
hitched when he becomes rather unpleasant to 
work with, for there is no better way of quiet- 
ing him down to work and harness than fatigue; 
and .should it pass from weeks to months to 
train him to work properly, he should never 
receive a harsh word or a severe lash, and in 
return he is sure to become a true, faithful 
working animal. The driver's first aim should 
be to teach him by a light touch to start at the 
word; the same should he stop before orders. 
By being tied to the other horse, he will soon 
learn to stop, but do not tie him by the bit, or 
you will hurt him, make him afraid, and cause 
pain without profit. See that the trained horse 
leads off in every way. Never attempt to drive 
the colt ahead, or it will cause fretting and con- 
fusion, as he knows nothing of what he is doing. 
A colt, when driven on the land or near side at 
plowing, when stopped, will hug his head into 
the furrow-horse's side, at the same time turn- 



52 THE HOESE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

ing his hind part out and crosswise of his work, 
which places him in an awkward position to 
start again. This will be averted by throwing 
little lumps of dirt and catching him about the 
off or inside fore-arm, or take a little switch and 
touch him along the off or inside whilst in the 
act of placing himself in that crossed position. 
This transaction will make him believe that 
by backing ont he leaves this inside open for 
attack. In this way the difficulty will soon dis- 
appear, but if you strike on the out or near side, 
it would be difficult to cure, as the colt would 
endeavor to turn that side more and more from 
you. As has already been pointed out, it is the 
mare that mostly kicks, enhanced by her entire 
state. This being the case, we cannot fail to 
observe that breaking fillies in the spring of the 
year, and in their season, would be liable to set 
the kicking habit afloat. This is quite possible, 
for I believe,' by investigation, it would be found 
that in nine cases out of ten it is spring-broke 
mares that kick, especially in being driven with 
a horse, for sometimes she shows fondness for 
her companion, at other times she is quite the 
reverse. Either of those spells may promote 
kicking. Then again there is no doubt that 



THir SHY. 53 

other causes help it, such as the rattling and 
entanglement of the harness, etc.,'and as soon 
as she begins to kick is very apt to receive harsh 
treatment for the act, which, by the way, is all 
that is wanted to frame it into an established 
success. Should the filly commence to kick 
with one leg, it is probably caused by the plow- 
lines striking or working in the vicinity of the 
flank. Should this be apparent, drive her on 
the other side for a time, and^ with care, it will 
disappear. 

THE SHY. 
It is somewhat amusing to see how effectu- 
ally the shying horse has been cured on paper, 
but somehow it cannot be effectually done out- 
side the pages of a book, and when that day 
comes we shall have a woful change in the 
horse to that beautifully adapted animal we 
have to-day. To effectually cure the shy, we 
should have an animal something after the na- 
ture of a huge tortoise, that shrinks into his 
shell and defys injury by any modern attack, or 
as the beast clothed with a skin that a musket- 
ball cannot penetrate ; then we should have a 
horse with nothing to fear. But so long as we 



54 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

have that thin-skinned, glossy-coated animal, 
so open to injury, so obedient, so tender- 
hearted, that he starts and trembles at the mere 
voice of man, so long shall we have a timid, 
shying horse. There is one thing that will 
abate the shy, that is if the horse is subject to 
ill-treatment ; for instance, the balker, being 
subject to this, in him we have not a shying 
horse, because he is cowered down to a stolid 
indifference to all around him ; but if we liber- 
ate and cultivate the better qualities of the 
horse, all his life and spirits are preserved, and 
the life is the shy, and the shy is the life, and 
cannot in no way be separated. I do not be- 
lieve there is any benefit derived in driving him 
up to a roadside object that he is afraid of, as, 
probably, the next time he is more inclined to 
give such objects a wide berth. When the 
horse is afraid, the driver should, if convenient, 
stand between him and the object of his fear ; 
and, should he take fright and endeavor to 
break away, the driver should be cold, collected 
and confident, and no matter how near the an- 
ticipated danger, the same quiet, commanding 
tone of voice should be maintained, for should 
the driver become alarmed, the horse knows it 



THE HORSE FOR GENERAL PURPOSES. 55 

in a moment by the faltering change of the 
voice, be it ever so slight, and sheuld he find 
this the case, he is stricken with a double shock 
of alarm and will run panic-stricken. 

Many a life and limb would be saved, if 
women and children could be kept from squeal- 
ing and aggravating excitement. I have stopped 
horses abruptly after running a couple of hun- 
dred yards, solely through maintaining a cold, 
steady tone of voice. The driver should be well 
supplied with good bits and lines, and never 
leave his team without both being tied, for one 
should not be called upon to hold by the head 
the sudden move of his own body and also 
that of his companion. 

THE HORSE FOR GENERAL PURPOSES. 
I contend we have no horse to answer this 
purpose effectually, for, in supporting the higher 
life and better appearance of the animal, it is 
necessary we be guided by the requirements of 
his nature. We see that smooth uninterrup- 
tion promotes this end, not to force the horse to 
depart unexpectedly and abruptly from any ac- 
customed course of proceeding, as it disturbs 
his quietr^de. We find the liorse for general 



56 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

purposes a victim to this changing system 
which is a galling destruction to both willing- 
ness and attraction, for to-day he is trained to 
slow and muscular trying ability, and to-mor- 
row this is abruptly set aside and he is called 
upon suddenly to adapt himself for a high 
speed of travel. The horse, in his more or less 
stiffened state, finds it an unpleasant duty and 
degrading to his noble nature nnless handled 
with care. Men, at those times, are apt to 
drive too fast, whipping too severely, and on 
one certain j^art of the body or legs, forcing 
him into an ill-shaped sort of a shuffling gait, 
destroying that beautiful, liberated all-fours 
move, fostering that disfiguring, pointing-back 
position of the ears. These unhorsemanship 
traits will be removed if you whip on different 
parts of the back, with a view rather to entice 
than to force, and the horse will uphold speed 
almost equal to being driven by force, for there 
is nothing that can compete with the will. 

ON TRAINING THE TROTTER. 

In training the trotter, endeavor to mature 
self-energy in the horse. This you will accom- 
plish if you pull up in your training spins, so 



ON trai:ning the trotter. 57 

that he has still plenty of fire in hand. Never 
over-drive the horse, or in a short tiftie you will 
injure his abilities rather than otherwise con- 
vince him that he can satisfy yonr aims by a 
fair and vigorous exertion. Whip smooth in 
your training spins, say every fifteen or twenty 
seconds. Never draw a severe lash ; if so, it 
sort of passes ahead of the horse, and he will 
despair of ever keeping pace ahead and avoid- 
ing it. Never whip only in such a way that it 
causes a little more pain than the present ex- 
ertion of the body; but, if to increase speed, 
whip in quick succession ; in this way he will 
move in a graceful, uninterrupted form, center- 
ing his attentions on, and working his all-fours 
in a clean, dexterous style. Never allow the 
whip to strike the legs, or the horse will become 
conscious of its severity, increasing with the 
swifter move of the leg, and, moreover, he is 
inclined to shorten them up. Nothing what- 
ever should touch the legs ; allow him to 
stretch them with all confidential freedom; 
apply the whip on various parts of the back ; 
never use a Dutch collar; it is too loose, is det- 
rimental to a fine, polished move, as it saws 
across the points of the shoulders ; use a nice. 



58 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

narrow bearing collar, pinching close in, down 
along the sides of the neck, with the draught 
about six-tenths up from the points of the 
shoulders to the withers, free from all encum- 
brance; the outer sides, and more especially 
the points of the shoulders, should have unlim- 
ited scope. A blind-bridle is preferable to an 
open one, because the trotter is apt to get into 
difficulty when going at the top of his speed 
through his all-fours mode of locomotion. We 
should endeavor to center his whole attention 
to the working of his feet, and glancing for- 
ward down to where he is going to step; this can- 
not be done to perfection while an open bridle 
is worn, for, in spite of all that may be done, 
his attention will be cast over his back to the mo- 
tion of the whip and the driver, the reverse of 
where it should be. By observing these rules 
you will cultivate a willing energy and attain the 
extreme highest point of speed, causing the horse 
to be a dangerous and respected antagonist on 
the race-course. 



TO FOLLOW THE TRAINER. 59 

TRAINING THE HORSE TO FOLLOW HIS 
TRAINER. 

To teach the horse to instantly leave his grain 
and follow his trainer out of the stable, across 
fields, along the road, around the yard, etc., by 
the mere word, is the masterpiece of all horse- 
training, for it should be borne in mind that the 
horse is as free as the bird in the air to depart 
if so inclined, and it requires the most masterly 
control to restrain him, yet by an expert it can 
be brought to such a state of perfection that 
the horseman may, so to speak, almost forfeit 
his life should the horse refuse to follow or dis- 
obey his orders in any way. To accomplish this 
difficult feat, it is necessary that we dispense 
with the lines, as it were, turning the horse 
adrift, for this necessitates purely a vocal com- 
mand; and have but one horse to drive, say one 
horse and cart, and walk or stand on the near 
side ; say you order the horse to stop or back 
lip, the whip-stock is instantly with those orders 
brought to tap him on the front leg below the 
knee, and if to cease backing or go ahead, the 
whip accompanies each word in like manner and 
is instantly brought to fall across the rump; 
then comes the order to ''gee off;" he again, 



60 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

simultaneously with the word, receives a push 
on the shoulder-blade or a little poke in the 
nose with the whip-stock, and should this cause 
the horse to increase his steps, he is steadied 
and held to a proper gait and position by the 
check-rein or other means for that purpose ; and 
if required to *'haw to," the horse is taught to 
obey by the whip-lash falling over the withers 
and down the oif shoulder-blade, and if this is 
not sufficient, is again directed by the check-rein. 
Follow these instructions, and frequently step- 
ping out and walking in front of him, you 
will in time train him to follow you. 

This, then, is the outline of the most difficult 
feats of all horse-trainiug. The horseman will 
now be familiar with the instructions in driving 
with the lines to apply the whip with the start- 
ing word, as otherwise the word alone is null. 
This word, under the system of driving with 
the lines, is the main word that takes the form 
of a vocal system of control. The horse is 
taught to obey the move of the lines mainly for 
the remainder, but in driving without lines all 
these words, namely, ''go on," ''stop," "back 
up," "cease backing," "gee," or "haw," have 
to be accompanied with a similiar application 



TO FOLLOW THE TRAINER. 61 

of the whip to sanction, bind, govern and teach. 
The outcome of a lengthy course of this train- 
ing is first by the tapping of the leg ; with the 
word ''back," he is riveted to obey and backs 
out of the stall, etc., unhesitatingly when or- 
dered, and should he blunder, the word " whoa'* 
is responded to in like manner, and finally to 
"haw " or "gee " towards his trainer, as the case 
may be. The horse thoroughly trained in this 
way all stubbornness vanishes in thin air, and he 
will obey those words hundreds of yards away 
if he can hear and comprehend their meaning. 
It is seen there is no special effort made tg train 
to follow, but to gain a varied and sweeping 
command. 

It is erroneously supposed that the horse can 
be taught and trained to follow by leading, and 
having a long whip, now and again throwing it 
around his hind-quarters, making him follow 
close up, but this is child's play and has noth- 
ing to do with explaining the science of horse- 
training. The science of horse-training lies in 
striking at the right moment and finding out, 
to a nicety, how much force is best adapted for 
the occasion, to rivet, bind and draw in, not to 
frighten and drive out, or our authority is lost. 



62 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

By this leading, like the lines, he is taught to 
obey the move of the halter-strap, and when 
the halter is removed he is lost, having nothing 
to steady him ; but if we turn him adrift and 
teach him to look solely to the word for his 
guidance, his guidance becomes the same, har- 
ness or no harness. 

Strictly speaking, there is no doubt this fol- 
lowing notion is brought from the Old World. 
Take, for example, the system of working the 
horse in many parts of England, namely, driv- 
ing in long strings ; the colt is broke to follow 
the leading horse to and from his work, and 
from the leading horse to the driller. Thus we 
see the following system forms one of the prin- 
cipal branches of his early training; then again 
he is broke solely to obey vocal command, so 
that an expert horseman, following the avoca- 
tion of working with one horse and cart, can in 
a short time train any of those horses to follow 
him, without departing in any way from their 
early training. Hence we see there is great 
difficulty in teaching to follow under the Amer- 
ican fashion of driving the horse with reins, as 
he knows nothing of this following system. 

In endeavoring to throw all the light possible 



TO FOLLOW THE TRAINER. 63 

on the art of liorse-training, I have a few more 
remarks to make connected with this following 
system that may be useful to the horseman. I 
have pointed out that this is the most difficult 
and highest point of control man can obtain. 
The outcome of this masterly command is that 
it is no matter hoAv balky or unmanageable the 
horse may be at the start, at the winding up he 
will draw at an immovable object at intervals 
of once a minute for the whole of the day. In 
explanation to this, it is in this work shown 
that the horse's way is aimless. Knowing noth- 
ing of ways and means, he looks to man to 
guide and steady him, and when we reach this 
masterly control required for the horse to follow, 
we also stand in this masterly position of guid- 
ing and steadying, for the horse has become 
to know that he is guided with such judgment, 
such, care, such fine discipline, that he seems to 
renounce all self-claims to the will of man and 
obeys his orders in every way. Now there is 
every reason to believe that if the horse could 
be surrounded or cased in, so that he could not 
twist or turn either way, that this would have 
such an effect on pacifying or removing the un- 
steady fears of the horse that balking would 



64 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

almost, if not totally, vanish. But as this wall- 
ing-in support cannot be adopted, we have to 
work on some artificial means which is obtained 
in this way: The horseman seeing the horse 
a little agitated at not being able to proceed on 
and fulfill his orders, touches him with the 
whip-stock first on the front side of the front 
leg, below the knee, the same on the Jiind leg at 
the back of the hock, giving the word " whoa" in 
a mild tone with each touch ; repeat this three 
times on the near side legs, pass by the head, 
drawing the whip-stock lightly across each front 
leg as you pass ; apply the same instructions on 
the off legs, and return by the head, touching 
again the front legs as you pass ; j^erform this 
every time any uneasiness is apparent, and the 
animal will draw, cold and collected, as long as 
he is told. I may mention it usually takes at 
least three months to obtain this control, be- 
cause all habits must be reformed, all disobedi- 
ence must be completely uprooted and unknown 
to the horse, and once thoroughly trained he 
will obey and follow a child or any one just the 
same as the ordinary horse will obey the word 
" whoa " or " back," etc. This being the case, 
it will set at rest the supposition that it is ac- 



TO FOLLOW THE TRAINER. 65 

complished by drugs. Some advocate teaching 
the horse to lie down at our bidding and remind 
him of his subdued situation, but this is errone- 
ous, for in building up vigor and willing com- 
pliance we cannot afford to kill all this by such 
conflicting, confusing, enforced inaction to the 
working horse. This becomes at once a dead 
letter, and should not be indulged in.^ T main- 
tain that to train the horse to follow his trainer 
is the most difficult of all horse-training. For 
example, here is a simple circus trick recorded 
and held up as a leading specimen of some men's 
ability: Form a- circle, put a bridle on the horse, 
with a strap or rope fastened to it, sufficient in 
length to fasten around your body ; take a stick 
in your left hand and a whip in your right, walk 
on the near side, circling the horse to the left, 
and every time he puts his left front foot to the 
ground give it a tap with the stick you have in 
your left hand, keeping him in motion with 
the whip ; in this way you will cause him to 
catch up and appear lame on this leg. Now 
comes the final trick : the horse enters the cir- 
cle and is sent jumping poles, circling to the 
right ; after awhile is stopped and turned, the 
poles are removed, and he commences circling 
5 



66 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

to the left ; he now astonishes the assembly by 
his sudden and pretended lameness, as if to say, 
" Look here, 1 cannot perform any more to- 
night ; see how lame I am." Presently he is 
again stopped and turned ; his leg is examined, 
and found to be perfectly sound ; with this the 
trainer remarks, "Ah ! yoa dog, you are trying 
to get a sell on me," at the same time throwing 
the whip over his rump, sending him circling 
to the right, and jumping the poles with no 
longer any signs of lameness. Now this is 
supposed to be sagaciousness on the horse's part, 
matured by some unknown, ingenious plan of 
the trainer's, but, as seen, it is simply done by 
training to go lame whilst circling to the left. 
In training to this, tap the horse very light and 
await the result of time ; thus you will preserve 
all the gay, cheerful attractions of the horse. 
By this we see that training the horse in a circle 
is quite inferior to commanding the horse to 
follow in an open field, because the circle, etc., 
compels the horse to keep in close proximity, 
relieving the trainer of the most difficult part of 
all horse-training. I do not propose to dwell 
on circus horse-training ; my subject is the use- 
ful working-horse. 



USE OF the; whip. 67 

OX THE USE OF THE WlIIP. 

In whipping the horse the horseman should 
guard against allowing the whip to play around 
the vicinity of the flank, flaying the sheath or 
other private appendage, for, as an hereditary 
right, he claims protection of those parts, and 
it is dispiriting if he finds the horseman so 
wanting in knowledge and feeling as becomes 
his high intellectual standard. 

The balky horse should not be whipped on 
the hind legs, as it causes them to become ham- 
pered and forced too far forward to control the 
action of the body in drawing; and again, while 
drawing, the muscles are then hard, which 
means increased pain. The most honorable 
way to strike the horse is on the back, and this 
is undoubtedly the place where he should re- 
ceive his whipping. I cannot, in writing, point 
out the force of the whip best suited under 
various circumstances, but I trust this work 
will throw sufficient light on the sensitive feel- 
ing and nature of the animal to enable the 
horseman to judge for himself. 

I have prominently shown that the whip 
should, at all times, be applied with care and 
reserve, and by adopting this course you will 



68 THE HOKSE OF Ai^OTHER COLOR. 

find that it will greatly enhance the accomplish- 
ment of heavy draws with punctuality and dis- 
patch. Some companies forbid the carrying of 
the whip, but this does not accomplish all that 
is aimed at, namely, to procure good treatment 
for the animal, from the fact that the driver who 
cannot be trusted with the whip is scarcely 
competent to handle a team without one, for, 
not being able to enforce observation of his 
orders, he becomes angry, will halloo and pull 
the lines, which means disturbance and ill-will ; 
his team will bear enmity toward him, will ap- 
pear sour and discouraged. The driver will 
also seek revenge at set times and in out-of-the- 
way places, which is here shown is completely 
at sea in the way of instructing the animal. 
This work will bear me out that the whip can 
in no way be dispensed with in driving the 
horse, because, as shown, the word to the horse 
becomes completely null, carrying with it no 
force whatever; consequently, he can receive no 
instructions except from the whip ; it is only by 
the whip we can brace, steady and weld them 
together, smoothing their burdensome way. 
I have proven to my satisfaction that the horse 
is not averse to the whip when becomingly ap- 



THE CULTIVATIOl^ OF BEAUTY. 69 

plied. I will here mention that after the team 
is started and traveling along the road, etc., you 
should keep their minds bent to their work by 
lightly applying the whip every few minutes. 
You should as carefully watch the movements 
of your team as the fireman watches his steam- 
gauge. 

THE CULTIVATIOX OF BEAUTY, OR THE 
BEAUTY OF GOOD TREATMENT. 

The many difficulties that may be avoided by 
having a knowledge of the art of horse-training 
are beyond estimation, for by knowledge and 
care we prevent restiveness, plunging and de- 
structiveness, causing unnecessary expense, or 
prevent, as is too often the case, the horse lam- 
ing or otherwise injuring himself; we prevent 
loss of time, annoyance; we prevent all those 
little tricks, such as seesawing, wavering, etc.; 
teaching the horse to work in orderly, horse- 
manship style, aud the horseman maintains his 
reputation as a driver. Then comes on the 
better appearance of the horse, which the ears 
may be said to take the leading part, although 
the graceful, attractive or unattractive move- 
ments of the horse accompany the ears respect- 



70 THE HOKSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

ively. These features appear according to the 
treatment the horse at such times is subject to ; 
in the ears is found a true indicator of his men- 
tal sufferings, for if the ears are carried pointed 
back he is being ill-treated, is subject to a sud- 
den severe lash, or has recently been a victim to 
such treatment; and it is to be regretted we 
may daily see a large percentage of horses labor- 
ing under this gnawing, cankering, and never- 
abating disease ; and while this is apparent we 
find that the graceful curve of the neck is lost, 
as his thoughts and glances are then aiming 
over his back on the whip and the driver. In 
this way the forward part ftf the neck and crown 
of the head is carried too high. This beautiful 
accomplishment, tlie curve of the neck, can 
only be formed to perfection when the thoughts 
are at liberty and he glances rather down in 
front of him, though many horses do not pos- 
sess that admirable set-off, yet, if handled to 
the best advantage, the outlines will frequently 
appear on almost any horse in company with 
the better move of the animal, for with care his 
aim is elevated and he advances with a relieved, 
bold, observing front. 

There is, no doubt, room for vast imj^rove- 



THE CULTIVATION^ OF BEAUTY. 71 

merit in the art of cultivating the 'attractions 
of the horse, and by becoming masters of the 
art of training, we become competent to mature 
the beauty also, for a knowledge of the art 
means better treatment of the horse, and better 
treatment and beauty accompany •each other as 
light accompanies day. Beauty is maintained 
in many ways, such as being regularly fed and 
watered, warm stables in winter, good bedding, 
and surrounded by men whose dispositions are 
of a lenient tendency; and the improvement in 
his condition is very remarkable, if his mind is 
kept tranquil and easy. How graceful the un- 
interrupted, natural move; how all this mis- 
called stubbornness vanishes ; how willingly he 
obeys the demands of his master, when by care 
and ability we recall to real life features that 
may have long vanished from the scene ; when 
we blend together usefulness and attractiveness 
in all its various forms. As simple as it may 
appear on paper, can the well-finished touch of 
the painter be more gratifying or conducted 
with more care and skill, spreading as it does 
over a varied field of transactions in connection 
with the horse ? How if well-treated and rest- 
ive, being led to water, he will jump, rear, break 



72 THE HORSE OF AiTOTHER COLOR. 

away, and scamper off around the yard. The 
cultivation of these features does not lie in al- 
lowing the horse to move lazily, or working in 
his own blundering form, but by being guided 
and steadied by a masterly hand, and is carried 
out on altogether a different scale than mere 
feeding and fattening, polished harness, tearing 
the hide from him with an iron curry-comb, or 
whipped, with the erroneous endeavor to force 
life and action. 

NOTES OX BREEDING. 

Horse raising at the present day is probably 
the most uncertain and unsatisfactory of all 
live stock raising. How seldom do we obtain 
a type of the sire. How is this ? There must 
be some interruption. By experience, I am led 
to believe that the American system of working 
the horse is, as a whole, detrimental to breed- 
ing, for the driver may jump into the wagon 
or sleigh with the reins and drive at a head- 
long speed without any inconvenience ; and 
will thoughtlessly drive long journeys with a 
mare probably in an advanced state of carriage. 
This is not only occasionally, but a mode of 
travel the mare is daily called upon to en- 



GENERAL REMARKS. iO 

counter, cramping and hindering 'expansion. 
How the horse is developed in England is a 
question it would be well for the horse-breeder 
to pry into. If we look at their mode of work- 
ing the horse, we find it quite different from 
that in America. There probably the mare, in 
her whole life, is never once driven out of a 
brisk walk. I have had some experience in that 
country, and I may safely say that those mares, 
otherwise properly cared for and sound, never 
•fail, but bring about the very best breeding re- 
sults. It is a regular occurrence for them to 
raise foals that will outgrow the parental stock 
in mere weight and bulk. If this be the real 
state of affairs, and there is every reason to be- 
lieve so, then it looks as though it is through 
their system of working the horse, being more 
favorable to breeding mares, that stocks their 
markets with a developed assortment of heavy 
draught horses. 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

We frequently find writers waiving the ability 
of the lady in quieting down a restive horse, but 
it must have escaped their knowledge not to 
know that the fair sex, after the first few drives, 



74 THE HORSFJ OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

stand in the very first ranks of society to effect 
that end, and they obtain their control simply 
in this way : the horse finds that extreme meas- 
ures are not resorted to, he is not driven to ex- 
treme action ; and it is quite possible that if all 
horses could be worked by small boys, balky and 
unmanageable horses would soon vanish from 
the land from the same simple reason. Here 
again we are face to face with the fact that leni- 
ency is the best policy. 

As a rule, heavy draught teams should not be 
forced to do much trotting, unless restive and 
that way inclined, but you will cultiA^ate energy 
and activity by training them to walk lively, 
that is, in cold weather, with a light or no load 
and the horses not tired. This will be accom- 
plished by bracing them up together by a fre- 
quent light touch of the whip. Never allow 
the horses to indulge in a spiritless, slovenly 
move, except in the heat of summer. At those 
times the life and energy of the horse vanishes, 
and he will lag through as best he can. In 
warm weather do not endeavor to force life by 
severe whijoping, because it cannot be effected ; 
if he is panting give him time or you may cause 
the death of the horse. 



GENERAL REMARKS. T5 

Many drivers are in the habit of' stinting 
their horses in the use of water with a view to 
keeping them commonly called tucked up, or, 
in other words, to prevent bellying down. This 
must be painful and grievous to the animal and 
probably injurious to health, and, moreover, 
privation is as poison to the gay, cheerful feat- 
ures of the animal. It is frequently found that 
one horse will not keep even with the other. 
This scarcely admits of a cure, for if we Avhip 
him severely the leader, finding himself out of 
position, is stealthily endeavoring to keep the 
lead. The diffictilty will be materially dimin- 
ished by whipping the slow one often and light, 
with a view to cheer and encourage him to 
close up to his companion ; shortening the slow 
one's traces will be an improvement. This case 
is like two men working together ; one will take 
a leading part in everything, and his companion 
will, as a rule, give way to it; so we see it is 
rather the horse's own affair than ours. In 
traveling along the road the lines should be 
held in the hand, and not hung on the wagon- 
rack, just sufficiently tight so that the horses 
are aware of the fact, for in this way we rivet 
their attention to their work. Do not, by all 



76 THE HORSE OF Ais^OTHER COLOR. 

means, use that aggravating, probing word " get 
np," or singling out by the name. Keep silent, 
and you will promote attraction and willing 
contentment. You may give a chirp, but no 
more. 

In descending a hill, if the team cannot stop 
the wagon, if convenient, cramping them around 
the crossed position of the front wheels will 
stop almost any load. Hasty backing of the 
wagon is another grievance that can scarcely 
be cured. This habit is probably aggravated by 
the martingale sawing across the breast, and, 
moreover, by going slow their strength is re- 
tarded and the horse is unpleasantly aware of 
the danger of sitting down on his haunches, and 
if we whip him it has no good effect in the way 
of a cure, for it appears as though the horse 
recieves it in such a light that he thinks it 
means to back, and do what we may, the next 
time he is required to back, the same hasty 
move is made, and by no ordinary means can 
we reach the intellect to teach him that the 
whipping is to prevent hasty backing. In 
stamping our authority on the horse's memory 
the starting and stopping words are two promi- 
nent commands the horse should be particu- 



GENERAL EEMAEKS. 77 

larly taught to obey. Give the worcL to stop 
and then pull the lines, holding them tight 
until they stop ; thus you will weld the horses 
to take the breeching together, keeping good 
order, making their way more pleasant, but do 
not use that menacing word "back" after the 
word " whoa," or, for example, "whoa, back." 
The horse is subject at times to untold-of suf- 
fering in the blacksmith shop, more especially 
at the hands of a journeyman smith employed 
by companies, and caring but little for the 
presence of the driver ; for it is a common oc- 
currence to cut the chnches, take off the shoe, 
pick and hammer out the stubs, clean and pare 
the foot, whilst the helper is preparing nails, 
heating and fetching on tiie shoe. If it does 
not fit, it is a Godsend for the horse, for he 
would be expected to stand on one fore or hind 
leg, with httle or no intermission, until the new 
shoe is on and every thing is complete, which is 
far too long, and to relieve his aching limb will 
lean on the smith, for which he is apt to recieve 
the hammer on his ribs with a sound equal to 
that produced by striking an empty flour barrel. 
The horse suffers the most in this way when be- 
ing shod foreward, especially if the front feet 



78 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

stand an inch or two lower than the hind ones, 
as there is far more weight on the front than on 
the hind legs. It would be of great service, and 
more in accordance with the age, if something 
could be attached to the beams overhead in the 
smith's shop to receive part of the weight of a 
tired, tender-footed horse. It is a common oc- 
currence to see the horse so dread the smith 
and the shop that he cannot be induced to face 
his doom and has to be backed into the 
smithery. 

When one horse is weaker than the other, 
through being wind-broken, foundered, or by 
other causes, we should endeavor to equalize 
the draught according to their capacities, by 
giving the weaker the longer end of the evener, 
for the sufferings of an ailing horse cannot be 
ascertained. This being the case, we should 
remember that if our own sufferings and allot- 
ted task of labor, under all shades of circum- 
stances, were at the disposal of another, we 
should not un frequently find ourselves in a 
very depressed predicament. " Imagine the suf- 
ferings of this noble and faithful animal, as he 
toils on," says Chambers, ^^ until he frequently 
drops down dead through sheer exhaustion, 



GEN-ERAL REMARKS. 79 

urged on by the anger of man and the. terrible 
scourge of the whip." As a rule, it is thought 
the horse knows what he is being whipped for, 
but we should bear in mind that the average 
horse has but little more forecast, has but little 
more knowledge of ways and means, or how to 
guard against difficulties, than the wheel of the 
wagon that he is drawing. As shown, he works 
according to his accustomed habit, and this is 
probably all that he knows about work. He is 
just as liable to take the very worst places in 
the road for his own advantage as any other ; 
he is as liable, as not, to run the wheel over a 
precipice and dash himself and wagon to pieces 
at the bottom. So narrow is the limit of the 
horse's knowledge, that in fighting flies, etc., he 
may hook his head by the check-rein to the 
other's hames a hundred times daily, but, as a 
rule, he will never learn the simple trick of un- 
hooking it again ; or, feed him with oats, in a 
box out of doors,, and he may turn it over, hav- 
ing to grovel his grain up from the dirt and 
stones every time, yet he will never have the 
sagacity to prevent it ; in like, manner, he will 
spill and lose his water. Seeing this, we may 



80 THE HORSE OF Aiq^OTHER COLOR. 

conclude, upon good grounds, that his intellect 
is in a very foggy state. 

The horse does, certainly, appear somewhat 
sagacious in many little ways; but this is, as a 
rule, only a flickering deception. For instance, 
in surmounting a hill, he will encounter the 
difficulty with all the vigor peculiar to his race, 
as though his aim is for some distant accom- 
plishment, but this ambition does not pass 
farther than his immediate surroundings, pro- 
duced by the present pinch of the collar. For 
one minute he may be seen struggling with all 
his might, and the next he may be seen with 
one hind leg hanging lazily by the side of the 
other, remaining inactive for hours, and show- 
ing no signs of any impatience. His principal 
sagacity is found in the way he detects the na- 
ture of the voice, whether angry or otherwise; 
but it is not far to look to find some clue to his 
knowledge in this matter, for, probably, he is 
not long in the world before he finds man hold- 
ing a despotic sway over the animal world, and, 
as we see, his timid nature causes him a contin- 
uous fear when man is nigh. Through this 
continuous fear, from his early days onward, he 
becomes thoroughly schooled in detecting the 



GEN^ERAL REMARKS. 81 

humor of man by tlie tone of the voice ; but 
wlien we put the harness on and endeavor to 
teach him to work, we take him into a new 
field of labor, something that his clouded intel- 
lect cannot rightly fathom ; and, moreover, if 
not handled with great care, his thoughts are 
still groping through its old channels, marring 
all other learning. Thus again we see the ne- 
cessity of using leniency. Having nothing to 
fear from man, his thoughts would be at liberty 
to dwell on his occupation. I may mention 
here that there is gvery reason to believe that 
the horse, through harsh treatment, becomes so 
uneasy at the presence of man that he nibbles 
the manger, etc., for relief; hence the crib- 
biter. 

We frequently find teams that move in a 
stolid, begrudging manner ; this is through 
being hallooed at and severely whipped on one 
certain part of the body or legs. It is said that 
the garroter, after once being sentenced and re- 
ceiving forty or fifty lashes, will scarcely attempt 
the crime again, and undergo a repetition, such 
is the terrible efiect. If this be the case, what 
a life of suffering the horse must be passing 
through, when, probably, he receives a thou- 
6 



83 THE HORSE OF AI^OTHER COLOR. 

sand or more lashes daily. Some may suppose 
it is not so severe with the horse as with man, 
but we should remember blood is frequently 
drawn, and that is equal to flogging, saying 
nothing of the vast quantity given ; and how 
are those animals to rest at night and be pre- 
pared for the morrow, moaning and groaning 
under a partly-flayed body in their dark, 
gloomy stalls, aching out the time and the 
dreaded approach of day, to be dragged forth 
only to undergo a repetition of this terrible 
infliction ? The cure : Do not speak to the 
horses only in turning, and then, in a mild, un- 
prejudiced manner ; whip light, smooth and 
often on varied parts of the back, avoiding that 
part you have been in the habit of whipping. 
Following this and instructions elsewhere found, 
and you will produce a good team out of the 
remains of a bad one. 

There is pointed out in this work much suf- 
fering in the horse family, but this is only a 
part of the misery they are heir to, for we fre- 
quently find them doomed to linger out long 
winters, with its biting spells of frost, in stables 
so open that they aff*ord no warmth whatever ; 
added to this, he is too often badly fed and 



CTEi^rERAL REMARKS. 83 

irregularly watered. Work he is bound to, if 
required, sick or sore; he must go so long as he 
keeps his feet ; in short, he is compelled to en- 
dure a host of grievances that beggar all de- 
scription, of which legislation is powerless to 
avert, for probably not more than one suffering 
animal in ten thousand comes under the notice 
of the proper authorities ; and this one, could 
he speak, would probably say that the sore they 
were healing was only a drop in the bucket in 
comparison with his long years of suffering and 
torture, of which he has no hope of escape un- 
til old age steals upon him, and his once power- 
ful muscles grow feeble. He is now turned out 
to shift for himself, to be caught up on busy 
days; and some stormy night in autumn, in 
seeking shelter, he mires and dies a martyr's 
death after long years of toil. Late and early, 
through fair and foul weather, he has carried 
his end of the yoke through the battles of life, 
but, alas! this is his reward. Better, far better, 
for him had this so-called civilization never 
been born. After all his endeavors to satisfy 
the never-ending demands of man, he, in a 
great measure, denies his own sufferings. To 
obey the will of man he delivers up his whole 



84 THE HORSE. OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

powers, he reserves nothing, and often dies 
rather than disobey the requests of his master. 
If such be the sufferings and principal features 
in the character of the horse, the feelings of that 
person are not to be envied whoever utters a 
harsh tone, draws a severe lash, or urges beyond 
his strength or speed an animal so willing and so 
obedient, and whose powers have been so essen-" 
tial to human progress. 

THE STABLE. 

When you enter the stable give the horses 
their feed, and if you keep them waiting do not 
whip them if they become impatient and paw 
the floor or kick the partition, or they will bear 
ill-will towards you. Some horsemen are in the 
habit of teasing their horses to an exceeding 
high pitch and then claim that a stranger can- 
not approach them only at the risk of a kick or 
bite. The reason of this is the horse makes 
more bold with a stranger, but to come to the 
point, he has far more hatred for the person 
who first teases him and then turns around and 
resorts to the fiendish act of whipping him 
should he make too bold in pursuing the very 
identical course he is taught and it is intended 



ON CLEANIifG. 85 

he should do. This teasing is thought to be 
play for the horse, but we should remember his 
play consists in galloping, rearing, jumping and 
kicking, and is altogether of a more developed, 
grander scale, and such petty, insignificant 
folly he detests. Treat the horse in a proper 
manner, and as he turns his head around to 
bite you, give him a moderate, straight poke in 
the nose and debar the act, but do not do this 
if you still continue to tease him, for, finding 
he cannot use his mouth with safety, he will 
become more exasperated and adopt the use of 
his heels. 

ON CLEANING. 

Tradition has it that cleaning is half feed for 
the horse, but this is all moonshine, for no 
amount of cleaning will ever fill the animal's 
belly. A clean horse, like a man with a clean 
face, appears more respectable, but, in either 
case, the benefit is about on a par. There is no 
doubt but all clotted dirt should be removed, 
accompanying a brush-down, but after this I 
believe man's time could be occupied in far 
more remunerative occupation in the heat of 
summer, when the horse is sweating profusely 



86 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

and cannot be cleaned in the usual way with 
brush and comb. There is no doubt that wash- 
ing, especially the shoulders, in moderately cool 
water is very refreshing after you allow him to 
cool off somewhat from the heat of his labors, 
but if the coat is dry it would be very annoying 
and unpleasant, the horse being in nowise a 
water animal. Whale-oil soap is said to be the 
best, and a lather of it left on the coat will 
keep off the flies for the night. Dust will sli^- 
pear in chilly fall weather, and the horse's coat 
will stand on end ; as this can scarcely be avoided, 
wiping with a damp sponge or cloth will be 
beneficial. 

Do not whip the horse if he does not like the 
curry-comb, for you are hurting him, or have 
been in the habit of so doing. The comb, to 
some horses, is very annoying, and to use it on 
such horses any length of time, morning and 
night, is, I believe, far more injurious than 
otherwise, having to gobble their feed under a 
tormenting interruption. Strong-fed horses, in 
hot weather, will become scaly under the belly, 
followed by at least an itching annoyance, 
caused mainly by the curry-comb repeatedly 
tearing the surface of the skin. To such horses 



ON THE HxlRNESS. 87 

it would be a happy relief if a cuny-comb were 
never brought into the stable. The comb is 
ill-adapted, and should not be allowed to go 
near this thin-skinned part of the body. 

There is reason to believe that separate stalls 
and plenty of bedding will help to improve the 
condition of the horse, for double stalls, as a 
rule, are not roomy enough to admit of both 
lying stretched out together; consequently, one 
has to stand ; he cannot rest properly in this 
way, will go to sleep and fall, and, in saving 
himself, will trample on the other's feet, legs, 
etc.; the lying one, after experiencing this a 
few times, will probably refuse to lie down again, 
or, at least, he cannot rest properly, as he has 
to keep one eye open for these mishaps, so that 
both are cramped into a position that forbids 
proper and refreshing rest. Many timid horses 
will never lie down while in close proximity to 
another horse, but will immediately accept the 
offer when the difficulty is removed. 

ON THE HARNESS. 

If there is anything to impair the adaptabil- 
ity of the horse, it is found in the construction 
of the shoulder, for there is where all of his 



88 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

great strength and weight of draught is brought 
to bear. We find in a continuous slip-slide, 
galling commotion and the wholesale suffering 
daily going on around us in this respect is enough 
to invite the attention of all who have a feeling 
for the sufferings of the animal world, and there 
are reasons to fear that this state of affairs will 
long exist, unless some important change is 
made in the shape and the material now in use 
for the construction of horse-collars ; for the 
present collar is too voluptuous, causing heat 
and preventing the free working of the shoulder- 
blade. But how this is to be remedied is a 
question difficult to answer. It seems we are 
compelled to have a collar sufficiently bulky, so 
as to spread the draught out from the horse's 
sides, but I contend, above and below this, we 
conld dispense with a great deal of the present 
encumbrance. There are many reasons for con- 
demning the collars now in use, for, with little 
observation, it is seen that the main work is in 
the outer shoulder, or that farthest from the 
neck, where the present voluptuous collar now 
bears, making it altogether ill-adapted for its 
use. The present collar fits all right while 
standing, but all wrong when in motion, the 



01^ THE HARNESS. 89 

beiiring being too wide. I contend tlnit three 
inches of a soft-bearing, pinching close into the 
sides of the neck, and np and down the depth 
of the shoulder, would be ample for all modern 
requirements. Added to this, bulky hair pad- 
ding is in use ; soft it is, no doubt, but in re- 
gard to heat it is only adding fuel to the fire, 
and if any galling takes place, extra padding is 
added and placed crosswise at the shoulder- 
blade, whereas it should be placed up and 
down, but not to bear on the sore. Our har- 
ness will never be in a satisfactory state, until 
material is found to prevent galling in any way. 
Put on in the most hurried fashion, next 
comes the hames, which are, in adaptability, but 
little better than the collar. As a rule, they 
are made with the draught far too low, for, 
along with what has already been pointed out, 
we find that the working scope of the shoulder 
materially increases down to the point near 
which the draught now bears, caused by the 
present shape of the hames. Thus it appears 
that the draught cannot be reasonably too high; 
for heavy work it is quite likely the better place 
for the draught to come would be in the vicin- 
ity or extreme hollow of the neck, and by 



90 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

having tlie draught high, another important 
benefit is gained. The bnlkiness of the collar 
is not required to bolster out the traces, as the 
shoulders become more narrow upwards. 

CHOKING— CAUSE AND CURE. 

Choking arises from two causes : either the 
collar is not deep enough to clear and prevent 
pressing against the wind-pipe and stopping 
the wind, or else the belly-band is allowed to 
remain too slack, allowing the traces to rise in 
drawing, causing the collar to rise also and 
press against the wind-pipe and so produce 
choking. The horse is very apt to choke, un- 
less great care is taken to prevent it, as the 
sloping shape of the shoulder facilitates tlie 
rising and pressing of the collar against the 
wind-pipe. Our ancestors invented the belly- 
band, no doubt, for the sole purpose to prevent 
choking, but their children to-day are sadly 
wanting in knowledge as to its real value. It 
would be an improvement for heavy work to 
have the belly-band four or five inches wide, 
made of one strong piece of pliable leather, 
and not the hard, narrow, hurtful kind now 
used. Thus we see the horse requires a deep, 



CHOKING— CAUSE AND CURE. 91 

narrow collfir-draiight, bearing l-atlier high, 
and the belly-band arranged so as to check the 
collar from rising with the draft, and the chok- 
ing will be cured. 

Hames, as a rule, are worn too wide at the 
top, allowing the whole weight of the pole to 
sag down and bear on the top of the neck, 
whereas they should be more tight and snug, 
preventing mash' and galling. As stated else- 
where, the horse wishes to attack his load with 
a sudden vigor. This is usually forbidden him, 
for fear of breaking the tackling, but his har- 
ness should be sufficient, and more than suffi- 
ciently strong to withstand his most determined 
efforts. The horse will not injure himself in 
drawing, if sound and he has good footing, but 
if anything gives way, in floundering to save 
himself, he shakes his whole frame and he prob- 
ably receives more injury than is at the time 
detected. For various reasons, the harness 
should be all kept in good repair, for if one 
part gives way it is apt to carry something else 
with it, as the horse frequently becomes fright- 
ened and unmanageable. 



92 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

HEAD FIXINGS. 
As this work shows, the horse requires some 
steadiness, and, with this in view, check-reins 
are beneficial, as it steadies and prevents a 
gidd^ maneuvering of the head, but it should 
not be drawn up too tight, or it destroys the 
spirited movement of the horse. If the horse 
twitches his head, or paws the ground when 
standing, he is checked too tight, still he may 
be suffering somewhat without either being de- 
tected. Blind-bridles should be at all times 
worn, for otherwise we cannot fasten the horse's 
attention to his work, for it will be on the mo- 
tion of the whip and the driver, in spite of all 
that can be done to prevent it; and, moreover, 
we have altogether too slippery a hold, the 
horse having things too much his own way, 
shooting ahead when the whip is coming, 
and abruptly slackening again the moment it is 
withheld, defying a smooth, orderly gait of 
travel. Open-bridles are injurious, and a nui- 
sance to both horse and man. Some claim that 
open-bridles prevent the shy, but when the na- 
ture of the animal is taken into account, such 
assertions are altogether wanting a fundamental 
support, for, destroy the shy and we destroy the 



HEAD FIXINGS. 93 

pith of the animal, and if the 'shy is cured 
by wearing open-bridles, it is brought about 
through a grinding hatred that is most sure to 
exist while they are used, and this hatred means 
hard knocks, and hard knocks rivets the horse's 
attention on the driver in place of being at lib- 
erty to boldly observe his surroundings. And 
even should it prevent the shy, the shy is only 
occasional, whereas the blind-bridle is a contin- 
uous necessity. With open-bridles we disfigure 
and destroy the usefulness of the horse, lessen 
our authority, breed disorder and tend largely 
to produce balk ; therefore they should not be 
used. 

The bridle-head is often sadly neglected, is 
thoughtlessly worn too short, being pushed over 
the ears, drawing up the lips ; and being worn 
in this distressing manner continually, is both 
painful and destructive to a spirited movement, 
causing sore and tender mouth. The bridle- 
head should be sufficiently long for the bit to 
clear the connection of the lips, a half an inch. 
If the horse be one of those not inclined to 
shy, use a common or straight smooth snaffle- 
bit ; in this way you will enhance the horse's 
pulling on the lines, so much admired and a 



94 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

real necessity in the way of a set-oif in a drive. 
All the harness should be arranged so as to fit 
snug and close ; this will enhance a gay, grace- 
ful move. The breechings should cross just 
below the points of the hind-quarters, and no 
longer than to allow the traces to hook with 
convenience. This gives the horse more power 
to hold back and catch his load with precision 
and adaptness, and prevents the neck-yoke from 
slipping off the end of the wagon-pole. Our 
arrangements for holding and backing at pres- 
ent are far from what could be desired ; the 
horse abominably hates the martingale sawing 
and pressing against his breast, a place alto- 
gether too tender to receive the full force of the 
horse's powers in holding or backing a load; 
and, to make matters worse, our martingale is 
too narrow and hard. The horse in backing 
shows he is being hurt, for in backing he is 
seen to half rear, which throws the greater part 
of his weight on the hind legs, quite the re- 
verse of where it should be. When hitched to 
the cart and no martingale is used, this rearing 
disappears. Breechings should be at all times 
supplied when harnessed to the wagon, for it is 



HEAD FIXINGS. 95 

terribly pestering to the horse to have to hold 
or back the wagon, for the belly-band cuts in 
through the cavities of the fore-arms, and there 
is reason to believe the horse frequently receives 
injury from this cause. Again we find reasons 
for condemning our present backing apparatus. 
In descending a hill, if the neck-yoke should 
break, rings draw or break, or breast-straps 
break, etc., we at once lose all power in steer- 
ing or controlling the wagon. For many rea- 
sons there is no doubt shafts would be an im- 
provement, for with them the horse could not 
only steer the wagon, but most, if not all, of 
the above-mentioned grievances would be re- 
moved; and, again, the shafts would be carried 
by the back, whereas the pole is now carried by 
the neck, where it ought not to be, as it tends 
to bend the animal down, imj^airing an upright, 
attractive carriage. 

Flies in the summer season are no doubt very 
annoying to the horse. Do not whip him 
harshly for any act he may do in fighting them, 
or it will impair the confidence he should have 
in you ; and free all entanglements without a 
murmur, for we should remember the horse has 



96 THE HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR. 

not the means or the knowledge to lift the re- 
motest article. Some protection from the flies 
should be provided on the forward part of the 
body where the tail cannot reach, more espe- 
cially just at the back of the fore-arms, for here 
he is likely to receive the main attack. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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002 863 111 fl^ 



